Dog theft case ripples through New Mexico town

This photo taken on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 in Moriarty, NM, shows one of two pit bulls tied up outside the mobile home where an alleged animal rescuer turned dog napper is accused of stealing two pit bulls. The home’s resident told sheriff’s officials she came home from work to find the woman taking her dogs. She said the woman then threw the two dogs from her moving vehicle when she gave chase. (AP Photo/Jeri Clausing)
— AP

This photo taken on Thursday Nov. 29, 2012 in Moriarty, NM, shows one of two pit bulls tied up outside the mobile home where an alleged animal rescuer turned dog napper is accused of stealing two pit bulls. The home’s resident told sheriff’s officials she came home from work to find the woman taking her dogs. She said the woman then threw the two dogs from her moving vehicle when she gave chase. (AP Photo/Jeri Clausing)
/ AP

MORIARTY, N.M. 
The cases were often heartbreaking: Families coming home to find their dogs had vanished from inside houses, behind locked fences and outdoor kennels in rural communities east of Albuquerque.

But with the recent arrest of a woman accused of stealing two pit bulls - then throwing them from her moving car as the dogs' owner gave chase - officials think they have confirmed longstanding suspicions that the animals were victims of an overzealous animal rescuer turned serial dognapper.

Authorities believe she stole dogs and then took them to shelters and said they were strays in need of adoption. Ring said he suspects Swenerton could be part of a larger network of local activists who are concerned about the treatment of animals in rural areas, where many dogs are tied up, live outside or are allowed to roam freely.

No one else has been arrested, and authorities said they are investigating other missing dog cases.

One of the pit bulls Swenerton is accused of trying to steal and throw from her vehicle suffered road rash, but the dogs were otherwise uninjured, according to the Torrance County sheriff's department. Swenerton was charged with cruelty to animals, burglary and false imprisonment.

Swenerton's attorney, Quinn Kirby, called the allegations ridiculous.

"Debbie cares deeply about animals and dedicates a great deal of her time and resources to animal welfare," she said in an email. "It is outrageous to suggest that someone like her would do something so heinous as to throw a dog out the window of a moving car. Debbie has not committed any crimes and we are confident that she will be exonerated."

Barbara Tellier, a friend of Swenerton's who runs the Alliance Against Animal Abuse Inc., said she believes Swenerton is being set up by officials in a county where animal abuse is rampant and officials don't care.

"Debbie is making waves," Tellier said. "She is emailing everybody trying to get help for these animals who are locked outside without enough shelter, or not enough water in the summertime, or running loose to get hit by a car ... and nobody is doing anything."

Tellier said Swenerton is "one of the most humane people I know" and that she and her husband build doghouses and pens for people so they can take their dogs off chains. They also take bales of straw to families to put in doghouses in the winter.

Ring estimated as many as 60 dogs have gone missing in the area over the last few years.

"It's a sad story when people are calling to report their animals are missing," he said. "You can hear the emotion in their voice. Some of them have children. These are family pets. It's heartbreaking, some of these cases."

Torrance County sheriff's officials say they have had a flood of new calls since news of Swenerton's arrest broke. One woman, approached at a hamburger stand, seemed startled to hear of the case.